Worrying times as donations of pet food dry up

Allison Smith opened Your Pet Food Bank last April in Sheffield, to meet the growing needs of pet owners locally.

Seeing the breadth of demand however, Allison ended up expanding her operation into Rotherham only six months later.

She said: “All my food bank contacts are needing more support.

“People are struggling and they are getting extra referrals all the time.”

With the ongoing cost of living crisis, which threatens to raise energy prices to an all-time high, this issue is only getting worse.

“It’s having a massive effect,” Allison explained.

“It’s not just in terms of what people need but also with donations.”

“We don’t have big connections — we’re getting donations from the public and that’s drying up.”

Allison’s comments follow a series of local struggles with pet support, as Rain Rescue has recently been inundated with kittens and Critters food bank needs to increase their donations three fold.

“There’s a lot of strain on rescues at the minute,” said Allison.

“People don’t want to, but sometimes they have to give up their pets.

“It’s awful, because I know they feel like they’ve let the animals down.

“For some people, pets are their only support.”

With winter ahead and even further price hikes, there’s clear worry for the pets in need in Rotherham, but this issue isn’t just confined to our region.

“Going through all my messages I see a lot of people asking for help,” Allison said. “This isn’t just Sheffield, Rotherham or Gainsborough, this is nationwide.”

To find out more about Your Pet Food Bank and details of Rotherham collection points, go to: https://www.facebook.com/yourpetfoodbank/.